Service users as a source of intelligence on priorities, outcomes and experience

Summary

The perspectives and experiences of service users improve the relevance of applied health research. Across the CLAHRC we aim to increase the efficiency of capturing patient experience, outcomes and priorities and demonstrate the validity of patient-reported information on comorbidities, complications, and information provision.

As part of this work we are working with managers and clinicians at North East London Foundation Health Trust to establish routine collection, analysis and sharing of community health services outcome data, thus taking expertise developed in acute services beyond traditional research boundaries. The repeated prototyping of graphical methods for presenting outcome data is informing the implementation of outcome monitoring in a selection of community health services. Computer based maps and models of patient flows between services and how these depend on outcomes are being co-produced with Trust managers and clinicians to give a whole-system perspective.

In a second project, we are working with Great Ormond Street Hospital to develop a cohesive approach for identifying key metrics to monitor outcomes which include patient and family perspectives and the priorities of commissioners alongside clinical opinion. We are compiling a suite of approaches for use in the routine analysis of these data, utilising or developing partial risk-adjustment as appropriate. We are also designing graphical summaries of quality and outcome data for routine monitoring by clinical teams, and for patients, the public and commissioners. In eliciting patient priorities on outcomes to monitor, we are using a modified nominal group technique and are streamlining this process through the use of robust voting software that identifies group priorities based on individual rankings.

The results of these projects will benefit patients by improving services, outcomes and patient /carer experiences.

Principal investigator: Professor Martin Utley, University College London

Start date and duration: January 2014, four years

Partners and collaborators involved: North East London Foundation Health Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust